Was manager Jurgen Klopp's failure to recruit last summer actually a stroke of luck?
Liverpool's summer transfer window was half a success. The reorganization of the midfield, which had been lacking by bringing in Dominique Szoboszlai, Alexis McAlister, and Ryan Hrabenberg, was successful, but they were unable to bring in players who were considered key players in the midfield, such as Moises Caicedo and Robeo Rabia, which were the original targets.
Both players chose Chelsea over Liverpool. Liverpool initially took the lead in signing the two players by making more offers than Chelsea, but Caicedo and Labia rejected Liverpool's offer and insisted on going to Chelsea, and eventually Liverpool gave up on signing them.
The two players headed to Chelsea with a total transfer fee of over 280 billion won, with Caicedo worth 115 million pounds (about 190 billion won) and Labia worth 55 million pounds (about 91 billion won). Afterwards, Liverpool completed reinforcing their midfield by bringing in Wataru Endo, so manager Klopp and fans were very disappointed right after the transfer window closed.
However, at this point, it is difficult to see Liverpool's situation as missing two players as just unlucky. Caicedo has been playing consistently since his move to Chelsea, but the overwhelming midfield control he showed at Brighton has not been revealed to a great extent. Ravia suffered an injury immediately after moving to Chelsea, and to this day, the injury has prevented him from making his debut.
Coach Klopp also confirmed this again and even joked that he was lucky.
Britain's Evening Standard noted on the 12th (Korean time), 'Klopp mocked Caicedo and Labia for their lucky choices.'
The Evening Standard said: 'Klopp mocked Chelsea as a pair while speaking about their failure to sign Caicedo and Labia. Chelsea spent more than £150 million on the two players. Caicedo is struggling to replicate his form at Brighton, while Labia is yet to make his debut.
Klopp said: “There were a few strange things that happened in the transfer window this summer, but we kept it to ourselves and said, ‘Have we been this lucky?’ We didn’t know it at the time, but we’re glad it worked out, we didn’t know until it happened. "We knew players weren't coming to Liverpool so we brought in Endo. He's outstanding. He wanted to come to Liverpool and that helped," he said, recalling this summer's transfer window.
Unlike Chelsea, which made huge investments, remained in 12th place, Liverpool rose to the top of the league through steady reinforcements. The outcome of the two teams' choices is expected to receive greater attention as the season ends.
